A/N – Tensions are building up and they will explode in a couple of chapters, this one is sweet and cuddly, but soon it will get dark, grim and bloody. Also great thank you to Ryukomonogatari for allowing me to use his idea of an OC mutant.
o-0-o
"I think that we know who caused troubles for Fury," Iron Man said as he saw the Blackbird pass directly over their position. "X-Men were here and that means someone that dislikes mutants."
"Or wants some secrets buried below the snows of Siberia," Warmachine said, he was wearing his silver armor that recently got a couple of upgrades thanks to Tony and was almost as good as was the Iron Man one. He winced. "Soviets were messy and this is the place where they buried almost all of their secret projects and experiments as well as many more things. Things that HYDRA or someone else would like to get."
"Or both," Captain added as they walked into the town. There was no normal activity and the doors in many houses were smashed. "They were brutal, as if they were searching for something."
"They still are," Hawkeye said, over the intercom. "You just don't see them, they are hundred and fifty meters or so ahead of you and seem to be looking for someone or something."
"Can you get us there?"
"Follow the main street, it bends in thirty or so meters and there you should see them. Be careful as they seem to have military grade weapon and some trucks."
"Lovely," Iron Man muttered as thrusters of his armor activated and he took off into the air. He glanced to the side and saw that Warmachine was following him. They flew along the main street and almost immediately saw a couple of large pick up trucks with goons around them.
"You take right and I will take the left?" Warmachine asked over the intercom.
"If you wish," Iron Man came from flight into hover and looked at the truck. "Missiles, target trucks."
The moment he said those words, shoulder plates of his armor moved out and revealed a set of small rocket launchers. He saw his targeting systems aim for weak spots and the moment they had locks missiles ignited their engines and flew towards their targets. They followed the path marked out by the laser and upon contact exploded. Their cores turned into a jet of superheated plasma that burned through the metal and destroyed the engine, causing powerful explosion. One powerful enough to send debris flying in all directions.
"Nice shot," Warmachine said and at the same moment goons started to run towards them. "But you got their attention and there is a lot of them."
"So?" Iron Man asked as beams shot from his palms and slammed into the nearest goon, sending him flying backwards. The rest of them took a look at them and at each other and backed off, hiding behind any obstacles that could provide them some cover.
Iron Man looked towards the goons and saw a round shield fly past him and slam into the nearest one, it ricocheted of him and slammed into a couple more. "Nice shot, Capt," He said turning to look at the Captain America.
Captain caught the shield with his hand and nodded before charging into them and starting to fight them in close combat. Iron Man looked at Warmachine and together they joined the fight. It was a short fight and moments after it started goons started to run away.
"They weren't ones working for HYDRA," Captain said. "They would have fought till death and defeat."
"Maybe they got smarter over the years?"
"No, HYDRA was pure evil." Captain kneeled in front of one of the fallen ones and bared his forearm, it was bare. "They would have a tattoo here, a nine-headed dragon and there is none."
"So a fake," Iron Man said. "We get back to Fury and tell him that this is a fake."
o-0-o
"The school should be in sight in a moment," Cyclops said as he saw Piotr and Illyana enter the cockpit. "Look at your right and you will see it."
Piotr nodded and as he followed Cyclops gaze his eyes widened, they were flying towards a castle. Even at night it looked imposing and huge, light visible in the windows and doors gave it a mysterious look, one that was hard to forget.
"Yes, that's the school," Black Eagle said from his seat. "It looks impressive, but you will get used to it, rather quickly at that."
"You needed get used to the fact that it is smaller than your family house," Cyclops said.
"His family house is bigger than this?" Piotr asked "How big it is?"
"Huge," Black Eagle smiled. "Or gargantuan or gigantic as it is a palace belonging to my grandfather."
Piotr looked at Black Eagle and shook his head, trying to understand what was being said.
"You will have time for that at the Institute," Cyclops said. "Now focus on landing as crashing it would be a pretty unpleasant event."
Growl escaped Black Eagle's lips, but he nodded and focused on steering the plane.
o-0-o
Harry smiled as he bent his back and avoided Oliver's strike that barely missed its mark. "Not bad, but you need to get better," Harry said as he caught an outstretched hand and with an ease, acquired during thousands of hours of training, slammed Oliver into the mats covering the floor. It pushed the air out of his lungs and for a moment he was laying there, trying to catch his breath.
"Not bad?" Oliver asked, getting up from the floor. "Than what is good enough."
"Beating one of X-Men in a fair spar," Harry smirked.
"Not you?"
Harry laughed at those words, he rarely heard so good words, but those amused him to the extremes. "Oliver, you are good for someone that trains for a couple of weeks. I started to train when I was eight and I'm an Æsir." Oliver looked at him, curious where it was going. "We are faster, stronger, more endurant, smarter and much, much better when it comes to martial arts and warfare in general. So you don't have the slightest chance to beat me."
At those words Oliver's head slumped.
"I don't mean that you cannot be good in martial arts, I just mean that you won't be on my level," Harry said, patting him reassuringly on the shoulder. "Now let's do it again."
Oliver groaned at those words, as if feeling incredible amounts of pain that were coming his way, but nodded and took an opening stance of the martial style he was attempting to learn.
o-0-o
Natasha winced when she felt wave of ice cold water slam into her head, she opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times, trying to regain the focus of her eyes. It took them moment to get clear and she almost immediately was forced to squint them when a painful white light hit her in the face.
"I see that you are awake," said someone and when she looked in his direction, she saw a man with one of his eyes missing and his mouth hidden behind a piece of cloth.
She didn't say a word and he only smiled.
"I know that you are tough, Comrade Romanovna," he said. "But we will break you sooner or later."
She didn't say a word and prepared for the pain to come, she didn't wince as strikes started to impact her ribs, one after another and the next one, stronger than the previous one.
o-0-o
Harry looked at the date and smiled when he saw that Christmas break was coming closer and closer with each passing day and now it was less than six weeks away. Even with Piotr who chose Colossus as a nickname and Illyana who still needed to choose one it was rather quiet at the Institute with not many things happening. The life fell into a routine all of them followed, in the mornings and part of afternoon they had classes and after that they trained in teams and had free time to do whatever they wished to.
His musings were cut short when a beam of red light slammed into him. He looked in its direction and saw Cedric Diggory with wand raised. They were in Danger Room as Wolverine decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea for wizards to see how it looked. "Not bad, but it doesn't work," Harry said with a smile. "You need to be more creative."
"How?" Cedric asked, his eyes widened.
"How many times do I need to tell you that you don't have magic powerful enough to injure me?" Harry asked as he prepared to unleash his magic, he pushed his hand forward and a beam of power flew from it and slammed into Cedric.
"I guess that you are right," Cedric said as he cushioned his fall with a bit of magic. He stood up and sent at Harry beams of energy. Harry rolled out of their path and replied with his own.
"I am right," Harry smiled as he saw Cedric dodge them and try to stay away from any of them. "After all I'm a demigod that was training in magic for few years."
"And is nearly invincible," Charlie said as he hurled at Harry several large logs that were generated by the simulation.
"Oh, shit," Harry muttered as he moved out of the way of projectiles, he didn't want to have his chest turned into blood and pulverized bones. He knew that he would be mostly fine, but it would take time for his body to regrow missing pieces and if he had a choice, he was going to avoid it.
"Couldn't you banish them using magic?" Cedric asked.
"I could have, but it isn't easy and requires a lot of energy," Harry said, wiping sweat of his brow and looking at them. "Energy that I have, but Midgard makes me weaker than I normally are so I need to play safe."
"Oh," Cedric said as they resumed their duel, exchanging bolts of energy and magic that could knock them out of it they were careless.
o-0-o
Harry sat on the roof of the Institute and looked at Storm, who was summoning winds and clouds as if they were her obedient servants, not one of the most powerful forces on the planet.
"Try to do the same," she said. "I think that I know where your powers are laying, but this should show where they are or at least some of them."
He nodded and reached out with his will to the wind that swirled above them, fighting it and forcing into obedience. He could feel sweat flow down his body as he tried to control the wind. He willed it to banish clouds that were covering the sky. After a brief struggle wind did it and sun appeared.
"It seems that wind is the main part of your powers," Storm said. "Though the rest of weather manipulation isn't weak in you, I guess that it is because of your father and his domain."
"I guess so," Harry said, wiped sweat from his forehead and focused on evening out of his breath. "I guess that it means more training?"
"Yes," she said and he only glumly nodded as it meant getting exhausted, at least for him.
o-0-o
Harry walked through the snow covered forests that surrounded the Institute when he felt someone appear behind him. "Uncle, do you really need to try to surprise me?" He asked, slowly turning around, saxe knife in his hand.
"No," Loki smiled. "But your reaction always amuses me."
Harry only rolled his eyes, making Loki scoff. "What?"
"You are a Prince, so behave like one, rolling eyes isn't the best of expressions and I don't think that you forgot how many times we were beating into that thick skull of yours that you need to behave in certain manner."
Harry snorted at those words and looked at his uncle. "It's Midgard and we are the only two Æsir in around thirty miles or so. That is assuming dad is at the Tower, if not we are most likely the only two on the whole planet."
Loki sighed and Harry could tell that he was not happy. "Yes, we are alone, but you are a Prince and certain behavior will be expected from you when you will be on Asgard or any other important realm. So rolling your eyes won't pass, especially at court."
"Fine," Harry said. "I guess that you want something more from me than just tell me that my behavior is not fitting my position."
"As impatient as his father, but yes there is more to my visit," Loki said and sat down on the snow. "Magic and teaching you more of it."
Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Really?"
"Yes, really," Loki said "I know that Storm is working with you on manipulation of weather and I will live her with it. Instead we will focus on battle magic."
"Meaning?"
"Bolts of energy, shields and so on," Loki said "As well as hundreds of other ways that you can use magic to in battle."
Harry smiled and fully focused on what his uncle was saying, it was by far his most favorite branch of magic and one that he tended to use a lot.
o-0-o
Loki surrounded himself with a powerful shield as Harry started to launch bolts of energy into nearby trees that once again were turned into poor practice targets. He was curious what his nephew was going to show and he only smiled when bolts of energy fired from Harry's hands and started to slam into trees. Cutting through the wood as if it was a hot butter for a knife.
"Not bad," Loki said after Harry fired his first volley. "Your control over magic is getting better than it was. But this will be for now, as much as I enjoy teaching you magic, it leaves an awful lot of magical backlash and people that are keen to magic will see it."
"Fine," Harry said. "So what now?"
"A couple of things that you should remember about Asgard, that might have slipped your attention." Loki could feel Harry's gaze. "The most important probably, you can invite whoever you want, but you are also responsible for what they are doing on Asgard and damage caused by them."
"Uncle, are you suggesting something?"
"No," Loki smiled slyly. "I'm just mentioning to you things that you should know before you travel to Asgard with friends you plan on inviting there. While we love guests, some nobles might be unhappy with your choice of them."
"So?" Harry asked, his eyebrows arched.
"Nothing, just they will be sore, though they deserve it," Loki said, smiling slyly. "For the last few weeks they are getting annoyingly loud and their ego deserves to get stomped on. I would have done so, but since you are about to return, well, I will use this opportunity."
Harry nodded with a smile and Loki could see some glee in his eyes. "It will be a fun thing and I guess grandfather will throw a feast in my honor."
"He will, after all he needs to keep an image and it is one of the best ways to do so. Also he does it to annoy both you and your father." Loki said and cut the air with his hand, opening a portal. "It leads to Xavier's and I think that speaking in warmer setting will be better, also I need to speak with you people inside of it."
"I think so," Harry said, following him through the portal. "So uncle, when dad is going to drop by?"
"Not soon," Loki said, shaking his head. "He is the Crown Prince and doesn't have too many excuses to be so often on Midgard, even if you spend most of your time here. While I on the other hand am a God of Lies and Spymaster, so I can go wherever I wish to and how often I need or want."
"I see," Harry said, before walking off into distance and leaving him alone. Loki followed Harry for a second with his gaze, but it quickly focused on his own target. He had business to conduct and things to negotiate.
o-0-o
"How did you do that?" Bobby asked as he looked at Harry who was easily lifting several hundred kilos of weight. All of his muscles were visible under his skin as he lifted those several hundred kilos on a barbell. But it was also obvious that he was far from his limits. They were in the part of the Institute that was one of his favorite spots, that is the gym. X-Men usually spent quite a lot of time here as they needed to be fit for their missions, but they weren't the only ones as other students also used it.
"I'm Æsir," Harry grinned. "I'm stronger than your normal human."
"I can see that, it's just that." Bobby lightly shook his head. "It's unreal."
"Colossus isn't far behind." Harry pointed out, referring to their large Russian friend. One that could be taller than he was going to be at the end of their respective growing up. Harry came to like Colossus as he was the only person able to survive superstrenght possessed by Asgard.
"I guess you are right," Bobby nodded "Why do you not want to spar with me or anybody else excluding Logan or Colossus?"
"You want to see?" Harry asked as he placed barbell on its stand and looked at Bobby. "You might be for a great shock."
"Still I want to see it."
"Your choice," Harry said as he got up and looked at his sweat covered t-shirt and pants, they would need to be changed soon and he would also need a shower.
"It's a bad decision, isn't it?" Bobby asked
"You will see." Harry grinned as he sent simple punch towards Bobby, who tried to block it. He blocked it, but he ended pushed backwards.
"What the hell was that?" Brazilian teen asked "It felt as if I had met a mountain or two."
"You see why I do not like to spar with you." Harry said "I won't control it and you might end up dead."
"Yes. That could be a problem." Bobby nodded as he attempted to kick Harry "But don't think that I will let you win."
"I wasn't even dreaming of that." Harry laughed, when he was here he truly had fun. Away from thinking about his future on Asgard, here he could be just another teen. Not a Prince of Asgard nor anybody else, just another normal person. Or as close to it as possible.
o-0-o
"So did you decided who you want to take to Asgard with you?" Warren asked as they sat in the Quiet Lounge, fire roaring in the fireplace and pushing away cold that was surrounding the building. It was the beginning of December and snow outside was piled high, which with freezing cold made then stay inside of the building.
"For certain you, Rahne, Danny, Bobby, Illyana, Jean, Piotr and Kitty," Harry said, looking at his older cousin. "I like you the most and want to have fun, not deal with people that I do not like. Also too many would get too much attention."
"And you don't want it, got it."
"Yeah," Harry said and looked at Warren. "So we would go to your family mansion in the Rockies and from there we would go to Asgard?"
"We can," Warren said and shrugged. "My father is probably by now used to me bringing weird or interesting friends."
"Weird?" Bobby arched an eyebrow. "Who do you mean?"
"You know who," Warren smiled. "Even if he got used to the idea of mutants and mutations, as well as me being one of them. Well, he still doesn't like it too much, but he likes Purists and Stryker even less."
"Extremists are bad for business and he is a businessman, so he won't support them."
"So what can I expect from mansion in the Rockies?" Harry finally asked.
"You will see," Warren said, slight smirk on his lips. "I assure you that you will like it."
"Please? Pretty please?"
"No." Warren shook his head. "You need to see it for yourself."
Harry growled and looked at his cousin, as much as he liked him, at times he was a very annoying asshole. And dealing with them was a thing that strained his temper and that was a bad thing, really bad thing.
"You didn't tell us about Asgard, so I won't tell you about the mansion. I think it is even."
Harry bit down a reply. "I guess that you are right. It just that I don't like to don't know data being held out of my reach."
"You need to get used to it," Bobby said. "You won't be given data at all times, probably even on Asgard they will keep data away from you."
Harry glowered at them and a short, animalistic growl escaped his lips.
"Stop growling, would you?" Rahne asked. "You're not an animal, but a human so behave like one."
"I can change into a wolf, or at least a breed of it that lives on Utgard, so cut me some slack," Harry said. "I guess that I got a couple of their traits, including growling."
"Who would expect my cousin to be a wolf," Warren laughed, throwing back his head, golden hair flying in all directions. "I can understand him being a fellow mutant, a demigod, even a sorcerer, but a wolf? That's too much."
"If you say so, than you better prepare for a whole lot of surprises when we will get to Asgard and you will see some of its inhabitants." Harry smirked and switched to Portuguese for a moment. "There are people that can change shape at will and some are more of an animal than they are of a human," he said quickly looking at Roberto.
"He will be surprised, while he can accept almost everything when it comes to mutants, this will be a huge shock for him," Roberto said as he chuckled lightly. "Though, I guess I will also be surprised by how wonderful or scary it is."
"You will see," Harry said and saw looks sent at them. "And we better stop or they will murder us, first me and later you."
"Touché," Roberto chuckled.
"What were you talking about?" Warren asked.
"Nothing really," Harry said and looked at the watch on his hand. "I think that's a good time to call it a day and get some sleep."
Roberto exchanged some looks with him and both of them walked out of the room as if they had planned it.
o-0-o
Maria's Hill brows furrowed as she looked at the calendar and at the last report from Black Widow, something was not adding up. Last report from her was from middle October and now it was almost the time for Christmas. She could say a lot of things about Natasha, but forgetting to report was not one of them.
She looked at them and yet again she looked at the calendar, as she did it a wave of cold washed over her, shaking her and reminding her that something was deeply amiss.
She picked up a phone and entered the number she hoped she would not be forced to use. "Director, Agent Romanov has been lost in Russia, trying to find data on Death Eaters. There is a chance that she has been caught."
She nodded to the words Fury said and than her eyes widened.
"Director, are you sure that it is a wise idea to bring him to find her?... I understand, I will contact him." She placed the phone back on her desk and looked at the map of Europe. She never was so scared of the future, this was new. This was a thing she didn't expect to happen.
"Deadpool, he wants to bring Deadpool into the loop," she said and looked at her desk. She winced, but picked up her phone and dialed a number she almost forgot.
o-0-o
"Thank you for allowing us to be here," Tonks said as it was the last day before the end of the term and for them it was a day of return to the UK. "We enjoyed the time we had spent and we hope that this programme will be continued in the future. Wizards in the UK are far behind the world and it needs to be changed and I think this is a good way to start it."
"Thank you," Professor smiled. "Albus is a friend of mine and I came to know wizarding world quite well and I can see your point of view. I will try to continue this programme, but I don't think that he will be able to send someone to Hogwarts during the next year." He picked up a couple of necklaces with the symbol of X-Men. "This should be a good reminder of your time spent here and if need be you can use them to call help."
"Thank you," Tonks said as she put on hers and looked at the piece of rope that was their portkey, she grabbed it with her hand and when the rest of her group caught it, she tapped it with her wand.
o-0-o
When the third week of December ended and it was the time for the winter break, Harry packed up his bag and impatiently looked towards the trip into the Rockies. Small bits and pieces of data told by Warren through past three weeks made him excited and curious about it. He threw it over his shoulder, walked out of the room and whistling a happy tune he made his way to the lobby to meet up with Warren and the rest of their group.
"Eager to go there?" Bobby asked.
"Who isn't?"
"Point taken, but you look like if you could run there and back."
"Sorry," Harry said, taking a deep breath and relaxing a bit as well as calming his nerves.
"How did wings on your back disappear?" Piotr asked.
"Magic," Harry shrugged off. "I thought that by now you are used to it being used by me."
"You can talk in the car or on the plane," Warren said passing by. "Jean, will you drive the second?"
"Sure," Jean nodded as they walked to two SUVs waiting for them in front of the Institute. They would use them to get to the airport and from there they would get by plane to Colorado. It was certainly better than driving across the States in two cars, even with more than one driver available it would take ages.
o-0-o
Several hours later, few thousand kilometers and timezones to the west they finally arrived in the Rockies. Harry looked around and he could see a lot of snow and spruce trees covered in it, he saw the realm of Frost Giants, Utgard, but here it looked more friendly and warm. Winters that he has seen on Asgard were rather moderate. Unless his father got pissed off at something and than meters of snow were a thing to be expected. Only exception to it was Nordmark where Ullr lived and they surprised Harry with how much snow there could fall and how low the temperature could drop. A couple of times they needed to dig through the meters of snow, some of it was as hard as the stone was, making the experience look like a torture.
"The mansion is behind this hill," Warren said, getting him out of his musings. "I wonder how you will react."
Harry looked quizzically at Warren and than followed gaze of his older cousin. He could see a massive mansion sprawled over the top of a hill with at least three floors, if not more. It came into the view so suddenly that for him it looked as if it was grown into the side and a peak of the hill, not an artificially constructed building. The fact that it was mostly constructed out of stone and wood made it look even more natural.
"What do you think about it?"
"I think that I like it," Harry said with a grin. "In fact I like it a lot."
"That's an Angel Aerie for you," Warren said with a smile. "Something like twenty bedrooms, swimming pool, gym, huge living room, a couple of balconies and terraces and everything that you need to relax away from the world. My grandfather built it when Worthington Industries became more popular and he needed escape from the world."
"Still, it looks darn good."
"Thank you, baby cousin," Warren said with a wide smile. "Since you are my cousin, you can use it whenever you wish or need to use."
"Thank you," Harry smiled as Warren pulled car to stop in front of the mansion. They piled out of it and with their bags in hand walked to the mansion. Warren unlocked the doors and they followed him inside. Stepping inside Harry looked around a hall and whistled approvingly as he saw wooden floor and high ceiling with furs covering the floor. "I like it," he said, inhaling the scent of wood and furs spread over it.
"Good," Warren said and indicated two sets of doors at the end of the hall. "They lead to bedrooms, pick any you fancy."
"Sure," Harry said, it took him a moment to decide on one. He finally picked one located at the end of the hall with a picturesque look at the valley to the north. Other than the look from them, they looked the same with ski cabin decor. He threw his bag onto the bed and left to find the rest of the group.
When he entered the living room his jaw almost dropped wide open. It was huge with floor to ceiling windows, massive fireplace, with a fire roaring, placed on one wall and a huge flat-screen TV hanged above it. A couple of sofas and armchairs was scattered around the center of the room. The floor was covered in plush rugs and it made it feel and look homey and warm.
"I never saw him gaping like a fish," Piotr chuckled.
"Me neither," Warren said. "So cousin dear, are you getting over the shock or not."
"Yes," Harry said, joining them and plopping down on a sofa. "It just surprises me."
"I never expected to hear it," Warren chuckled. "So what do you think about the mansion?"
"It looks really good," Harry smiled as he looked through the window and saw snowflakes swirling behind it. "Also has a weird feeling of peace and warmth that many places do not have."
"There is that," Warren said. "Do you have any idea how long do you plan to stay here?"
"As long as you want or need to stay, we can appear on Asgard whenever we want and Heimdall will allow us passage into it.
"Sounds nice," Bobby smiled and looked at Warren. "Even if I was here for a couple of times it still surprises me."
"Well, it is supposed to be a surprise," Warren chuckled. "Also dad mentioned that he planned to expand it, in one way or another."
"Expand this thing?" Piotr asked in disbelief. "This room is probably larger than the house where my family used to live and you want to expand it?"
"Yes, he said something about it being a bit too small."
"Not enough to accommodate your combined egos?" Harry laughed. "Or is it something else?"
All of them laughed at those words and Harry could see Warren blush furiously at those words.
"I think that it is true," Jean said. "After all your ego is huge and if I'm right about your father, his is even bigger."
Warren nodded, but let it go and the next couple of hours they spent mostly talking and munching on various kinds of food, and before they realized how late it was the moon appeared above the horizon and it was the moment when the realization hit them like a sledgehammer.
o-0-o
"You know that your cousin is a sweet person?" Jean asked as she looked at Warren.
Warren laughed at those words. "I wouldn't call him sweet, but he is a nice person." He shook his head and looked at her. "Considering with whom he was living, it's a wonder that he turned out so good."
"What do you mean?" She asked, her attention focused on him.
"His aunt," Warren said and sighed. "I saw her once, five or so years ago and she is an unpleasant person... Unpleasant would be too kind for her, imagine person so angry at her sister that she cannot think clearly and nothing will change her opinion."
Jean's eyes flashed orange for a moment and she looked at him. "And she showed that to him when he was forced to live with her."
Warren didn't say a word for a moment, but when he looked at her, his eyes were the color of glacier ice. "I don't know a lot, but I think that you can guess the rest."
"Yes, she did it."
He blinked a couple of times and looked at her. "How do you know it?"
"His behavior tells a lot about him and the fact that I talked a lot with him in his mind. You can't hide a lot of things when you see the inside of someone's mind. He can try to push them deep inside and out of my reach, but even than, his reactions and the look of his mind tells more than things hidden below."
"So what did you see?"
"Things that I won't tell you," she said, her voice harsh. "You should know by now that things that you see in someone's mind are a thing that stays there. Wrongly used they will cause more bad than good."
"Sorry," he said.
"No need for that," she smiled briefly, but quickly became serious. "Even you can forget about it, but try to remember about it."
"I guess that I should try to pry some more out of him?" He asked, opening doors into his room. He smiled when he saw that it didn't change since his last stay here.
"If you want you can try," she said, stepping into the room. "But he might hide in his shell and bite you."
"Why?"
She sat down on his bed and looked into his eyes. Warren could see something that he couldn't quite understand in them. "Those are memories that he would like to forget about and he will react defensively to any attempt to talk about them. He is a nice person, but he has more secrets that you can see."
"I guess that you are right," Warren said as he joined her. "He is a very similar person to me, isn't he."
She chuckled at those words. "You have a couple of things in common, but not all of them. He seems calmer, more focused and more determined than you are. As well as his eyes are much, much more unsettling than yours are or will be."
"Yes," Warren shuddered, he directly looked into them just once and it was more than enough for him. "They are scary and I'm used to fear, but this is a different taste of it."
"I have an idea about it, but I will need to speak with Professor about it." Jean said, getting up. "Night, Angel," she said, kissing him.
"Good night, Phoenix," he said as he saw her walk out of the room. Words said by her poked some things inside of his mind, things that he felt he knew, yet he couldn't place them. Shrugging off those thoughts he jumped into the bed and soon was deep asleep.
o-0-o
Kitty stood on the balcony, not paying any attention to the light snow and was looking at the valley below when she heard doors behind open. She turned around and smiled when she saw Harry walk onto the balcony. "It is a nice place, isn't it?"
"It is," he smiled and she could see his gaze wander onto the snowy peaks in the distance. "Reminds me of the time I spent in the wilderness of Nordmark where one that was one of my tutors has a palace."
"Snow and forests everywhere?"
"And tall mountains, extremely tall mountains, but beautiful ones and from their peaks you can see the Citadel and the main city," he said, she could feel some nostalgia in his voice.
"You miss Asgard?" She asked and looked at the sky. "Can you see it from here?"
"Yes and no," he said, making her arch an eyebrow. "I miss it and I can't see it from here."
"Why not?"
"Because it is in a different dimension than Midgard is," he said and looked at the sky. "Long ago it was in the same dimension, but now it is gone from here and is in its own."
She hummed quietly for a moment. "How true is the description of the Nine Worlds that is in the Edda?"
"Placement of them is right, positions against each other are right and the fact that they are connected by a thing called Yggdrasil is also true," he said and looked at her. "But the rest is mostly wrong, especially descriptions of them. As well as titles given to the gods and our technological level."
"You showed some stuff that I thought could only exist in dreams."
"Yes," he said with a smile. "There is even more on Asgard that will surprise you. Most of it is should make your jaw drop."
"Good, I don't mind surprises, in fact I love them. I just hope that they will be good."
"They will be," Harry said with a smile. "I would talk more, but I need my precious sleep so goodnight Shadowcat."
"Goodnight," she softly repeated and saw him disappear into the building.
o-0-o
"It's a dream," Illyana said looking out of the window of Angel's Aerie.
"No, it's not," Piotr smiled. "It's real as I or you are and whatever you say the Institute looks quite good."
She nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yet I still miss rodina."
"I do, too," he said quietly. "But I also came to like the school, at least I do not need to hide who am I."
"There's that," she smiled and muttered. "Good night, brat."
"Good night, little one," he said before walking to his room and watching not to slam into the ceiling or any of the lamps hanged under it. As much as he loved being tall, he hated the fact that he needed to pay attention to where the ceiling was.
o-0-o
Harry dodged mad aerial attack that came from Warren and slammed his own wing into Warren's arm, causing him to lose stability of his flight and enter wild, unpredictable flight that ended in snow. Harry only laughed as he saw Warren try to dig out of the hole he had made.
"How did you do it?" Warren asked as Harry landed on the ground, wings neatly folding behind his back.
"A lot of experience and I guess luck," Harry said as he helped Warren to get up, only to get pushed by him into the snow. "I should bury you under more snow."
"Or be less trusting than you are."
"There's that," Harry said, wiping snow from his face. He sat up and looked at Warren. "One thing that you should know about my friends from Asgard, do not let them drag you into any brawl."
"Why?"
"They will beat and humiliate you so much that you won't be willing to show close to me or them," Harry laughed. "They are nice and friendly, but a lot of things is different between Earth and Asgard."
"Such as?"
Harry was silent for a moment, trying to think what Warren could learn when on Asgard what he would need to know before Asgard. "Do you remember parts from the Edda about competition and the fact that we love to show off?"
"Yes..."
"You might be challenged by some, they should back off when they will see me, but some might not. So don't be surprised, the rest isn't that important for you to know right now. You will learn them on the fly."
"Sounds scary," Warren said as they looked at the valley below.
"It isn't," Harry said and looked at the sky. "What would you say about getting there today?"
"We were here only for two days and you want to go to Asgard?"
"Asgard is fun and I think better than this." Harry said, wings on his back slowly unfolding. "So what do you say?"
"We better ask them, but I think that yes."
"Okay," Harry said as he jumped into the air and started lazily glide towards the mansion located on the other side of the valley. He didn't wait for Warren as his cousin for one time could be the one chasing him. Nor the other way around as it was at the Institute.
o-0-o
Thirty minutes later they gathered on the peak of a hill few dozen meters away from the Aerie as Warren loudly protested against any mark being imprinted onto the building. Harry looked to see if they were gathered around him with things that they thought they wanted to take and looked at the sky. "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!" he shouted and seconds later they were enveloped by a beam of ethereal light.
"Don't close your eyes," Harry said as he saw them a bit shocked by the images they were seeing. "It will get better and make you less disoriented when we will step out of it." He smiled as he saw the golden imprint of the Yggdrasil that was visible through the space and time. He could see it change and move to accommodate the growth and change of the Nine Realms. Directly in front of them there was the brightest point in the whole tree, Asgard.
"It looks beautiful," Illyana whispered. "Is that a galaxy?" she asked indicating a large spiral that seemed to be glowing with its own light.
"One of many," Harry said as he looked at what she was pointing. "It's one of reasons why I love travel through Bifrost, you can see the universe in all of its beauty and glory."
"I can see why you love it so much," Warren said and frowned when the usual rainbow pattern of colors changed to pure and solid gold. "What is it?"
"We are close to Asgard," Harry said as his eyes glowed with power, magic and power energizing him. He stepped through the gate of Bifrost without slowing down and looked around the Observatory to see that it looked the same as he remembered it.
"Welcome home, Your Highness," Heimdall said with a bow to him and later turned to look at his friends. "On behalf of my liege, King Odin, welcome to Asgard."
"Asgard? It looks small," Warren said, making Harry laugh.
"This is the main entry point into the realm," Harry said, indicating a crystalline bridge that led from Bifrost towards the city. "Asgard is beyond this bridge. The shiny thing that you will see is the Citadel, my family house for last several millenia."
They followed Harry's finger and he could hear a lot of gasps of shock and surprise. But even he needed to admit that it looked good, its golden surface reflecting the sunlight and sending hundreds of reflections in each direction.
"Okay, that's a nice home," Warren said after a long period of silence. "I'm kind of jealous of your house."
"Only kind of?" Jean asked. "This looks amazing."
"And it will get better when we will get closer," Harry said as they walked onto the bridge. He smiled as he felt sea breeze blow and ruffle his air, as well as carry with itself a strong scent of salt. "The Citadel is also the administrative center of the whole empire and house barracks of at least a part of the Royal Guard."
"What are those flying things?" Rahne asked, indicating a set of buildings floating above one of smaller peninsulas. In the middle was a large, graceful structure that looked like a star with twenty points made out of gold, silver and glass. In the middle of it was a large tetrahedron that shone with its own light. Around the star there were several smaller buildings of various shapes and sizes, finally between the main star and its satellites were scattered hundreds of small daises and rectangles.
"One of the three most important schools of magic," Harry explained as he followed her eyes. "The other two are on Vanaheim and Alfheim. This one focuses on battle magic."
"And the other two?" Illyana asked, he could feel something more to her question.
"Elemental magic and Runic."
"So what else is here?" Bobby asked.
"A lot of things that I will show you once we are at the Citadel," Harry said and smiled when in front of them appeared six figures clad in black and silver armor, and in the middle of them one in completely silver armor. "Sif, I see that my grandfather asked you to make sure that I find my way to the Citadel."
"Indeed," she said and he could see her gaze sweep over his friends. "Who are they?"
"Friends and family," he said with a smile and saw her nod.
"Alright," she said and looked at him. "I guess that you don't want to enter the Citadel through the main entrance with all the fanfare."
"Yes, side entrance would be nice," he said as they started to walk through the maze of smaller streets and secret passages spread all over the city. People that saw them didn't ask any questions when they saw black armors and Sif in the lead. It took them over fifteen minutes of meandering through the city before they arrived on a large plaza that was in front of the main entrance into the Citadel.
Harry's eyes only slipped over massive statues that were placed there. He could name people represented by them from his memory, they were showing the power and importance of Asgard.
"What are those?" Piotr asked. "They are huge."
"Statues of the whole Council Elite, that is heads of pantheons and heroes of Asgard." Sif said. "Some of them are still alive, while a good part is dead, generally having your statue placed here is a great honor."
"So it is a way of rewarding ones that did something for Asgard," Danielle guessed.
"Very good," golden-haired Goddess of War said. "Indeed it is that way."
"There are also their banners in the Hall of Heroes," Harry said and rolled his eyes at the looks from his friends. "You made me memorize all of them and learn for what they had their banners placed inside of it."
Sif smirked and looked at Harry. "Than for what Hermóðr has his banner inside of it?"
Harry was silent for a moment and looked at the statue of Hermóðr which showed him in a plate armor, winged helmet on his head, a ball of fire in one hand and in second a sword. "Campaign on Earth, to be exact at the place where now is Sahara desert. It was during a conflict against Heliopolis and later Vampires."
"Very good." She smiled. "It seems that some of the knowledge stayed inside of your brain, which considering your father is an achievement on its own."
Harry looked at the sky and sighed. "Why do you assume that I will always charge into the battle without thinking?"
"Because that's true?" Warren suggested and Sif's eyes glowed dangerously, making Harry gulp in fear.
"Thank you, cousin dearest," Harry said as doors in front of the opened on their own, revealing a huge hallway with vaulted ceiling and columns supporting it. "You said about something more forgotten entrance."
"Guard is training there, so this is the best I could get," Sif said. "Unless you want to override security systems and I don't think that you want to do it."
"No," Harry said as he let Sif lead them through the maze of corridors. After thirty minutes or so of it, she lead them onto a large terrace from which was visible a whole city spread around it. "Well, Sif can show where are your rooms and in the meanwhile I will get dressed into something more comfortable," he said after a moment and after they nodded disappearing into the maze of the corridors. As he walked through them he could feel even more power and energy enter his body, energy and power he had missed when on Midgard.
o-0-o
A/N – Slower chapter where not much happens, but is only a build-up before bigger things and I think that you can guess where it will end.
Terms and names:
Hermóðr – one of uncountable Gods of War possessed by Asgard, in the myths there are I think something like eight of them. Here he is let's say one of the most trusted field commanders and gets the hardest missions to do, or the most sensitive.
Rodina – Russian word for motherland
Heliopolis – Name of Egyptian pantheon used on Asgard
Council Elite – their version of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, does not much, but being on it is a great honor
Schools of magic on Asgard – This is completely my own creation, based on the simple assumption that untrained mage is too big of a security risk to the realm. There are three main and the most prestigious ones.
Academy of Battle Magic and Sorcery on Asgard – Everything that focus on battles and how to get better at killing with magic or summon things that can help you kill faster. They will make Dumbledore throw a fit or ten and compared to Hogwarts students they are much, much more dangerous. Probably one that starts it can kill Hogwarts one without even trying and with minimal usage of magic.
Runic Academy of Alfheim – Runes and how to use them as well as how to create your own runes and how to bind them into the metal or stone. Thing that is used during construction of almost everything starting from the simplest things and ending on giant space constructs. They can modify properties of the material or imbue it with magic and much more. There is also their usage on the battlefield or when keeping prisoners in check, they are almost impossible to spot and when you see them it is too late.
Vanaheim Hall of the Elements – Elements and how to use them, which can range from simple spells to deal with a lock to ones that can rip apart whole cities if used properly.
Even if they have specialization, they also train in the general magic and there are several branches in each that can be chosen by student or suggested for him to choose. But the general rule is that a good sorcerer should shine in his field and be at least competent in other branches of magic.
Reviews
Flying Through Clouds – PJO might appear, or might not. Depends how fast villains will get beaten into the ground or end up in one prison or another.
shugokage – Emma is not stupid and she knows that even if her involvement isn't discovered outright, there is a good chance that Asgard will keep digging and believe me, the last thing you want is having personal attention from Loki, especially when he is in a really foul mood. In the MCU and Marvel he is shown let's say as a Trickster, in true myths he is person that doesn't have qualms about using whatever means that can give him his goals.